


You Were On The Steep Side, I Was Swimming Towards You

by gossy16



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Coda, M/M, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-23
Updated: 2011-12-23
Packaged: 2017-10-27 22:48:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/300877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gossy16/pseuds/gossy16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They hear the joke every damn day and people think they're so clever, right, but Danny can chalk all of that up to people just being completely estranged to the notion of <i>partners</i>. (<b>2x12 coda</b>)</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Were On The Steep Side, I Was Swimming Towards You

It's a lovely reception with lovely drinks and entertainment and everything, but when Danny catches Steve watching them from the bar, he has to stop dancing with Lori – whatever that even meant. She is lovely, too; it's just that for whatever reason Danny's heart’s not in it, and it's not fair or something because she really is lovely, and fun. But Rachel's due date is fast approaching, and if Danny's honest now, he may or may not be trying a little too hard to move on.

So he joins Steve at the bar. "What's with you?" he asks.

Steve fights down a little smirk, the smug bastard, not quite quickly enough to escape Danny's notice even as he sits on the next stool, but then Steve's face turns somber like a switch was just thrown. "Joe's been lying to me."

Danny sighs, because come on, really? At Chin-Ho's wedding? But this is Steve and it's important to him, so Danny takes a swig of the drink the bartender just placed in front of him – which Steve must have ordered for him in advance, the smug bastard – and offers instead, "‘That why you disappeared after the vows?"

Steve nods and extends a leg to the footrest on Danny's stool. He does that, and it's never bothered either of them – maybe his legs are just too damn long, whatever. If he's honest now, Danny kind of likes how it anchors him in place after one too many drinks. And Danny, he leans in to listen over the music, because he can tell Steve is going to unload something significant and those times don't come around too often, and maybe he's a little glad Steve is choosing to confide in him at last, after all.

*

"So, you and Lori," Steve says after a lull in conversation, when he's all talked-out about his father and Joe and Wo-Fat and Shellburn and the former Governor and Hiro Nishimuri and the Yakuza and Wo-Fat some more and _goddamnit_ , they have not left the bar for hours now – and goddamnit, Danny finds he misses that McGarrett smugness a little bit right about now.

"Nah," Danny says. "She's great. It's just," he tries to find some words to go with these hand-motions all of a sudden, but fuck it, if Steve can't interpret his language by now, etc., etc. "Nah," he repeats.

Then Steve pats him on the shoulder, like he's pleased or something, "Good. I'll be right back," he says. And he goes off somewhere, probably the bathroom, who the hell even knows? And Danny finds his stool a little light, unsteady now. Danny shakes his head, careful now, when the bartender offers him another, but the party must be winding down somewhat, because he follows that up with the infamous 'how long you two been together,' and fuck, Danny's a little drunk, okay? And so, now his chair is light and unsteady and downright unsettling and he needs to get some air.

So Danny walks over to the beach, not even sure why. He is a little drunk, okay?

They hear the joke every damn day and people think they're so clever, right, but Danny can chalk all of that up to people just being completely estranged to the notion of _partners_ and what that means to fine, upstanding men such as himself and Steve. ‘cause look, they share close calls with death on a weekly basis, and they save each other's asses more times than even _Danny Williams_ can be bothered to keep track of, which is saying something, and basically, as partners and friends you really can't get any more intimate than that. People don't always get it, and whatever, sucks to be them.

It's just, bartenders, right? Bartenders at weddings, no less, if they have any experience at all, you would think those guys know their shit. And Danny may be drunk, but all night he's been seeing the sheer joy on Chin and Malia, the honest-to-God _glow_ around them, and Lori's great, okay, and Dr. Asano was great, too, but Danny still can't sleep well at night no matter how long he keeps the TV on and _he just wants some peace for himself, too_. Is that too much to ask?

*

It's a few more minutes until Steve finds him, with that look on his face that says "there you are" and "really, the beach of all places?" and also probably "I think someone’s had a little too much to drink," Danny's response to all of which would be _I know, okay, I know_.

That smugness is back too, and if Danny's honest now, in this light, it's not entirely unattractive. _What?_

"Look, I lied," Danny says, as if by way of explanation. "I lied, OK? I was not _concerned_ , I was terrified. You hear me? I mean, I know you think you're all that – not that I always disagree – but Jesus Christ, Steve... Scared the living hell out of me," he says, "fucking _terrified_ ," and he kicks at the sand a little for something else to pretend to focus on.

Steve snickers faintly but it's a little sad, too. Hollow. After a minute or so of staring at the horizon, barely distinguishable, he says: "Y'know, I did think about you. The whole time."

Danny can hear him swallow against the sea breeze, and this is a sobering moment, for sobering thoughts.

"’Sall I could think in the back of that truck, how Jenna would cross any line just for a chance to be with the guy she loved and I can't," Steve pauses here and when Danny turns to look at him, keeps his eyes on the surf. "I couldn't even cross my own damn living room."

And it is the most ridiculous thing, they are painfully aware, that it took them so long. That it took them this hell. For the second time tonight, Danny wonders how long they _have_ been together, and why the fuck _aren't_ they? And it stings a little bit, but only as much as he’ll let it.

"Babe," he says, and he moves to turn Steve’s shoulders in the opposite direction, towards the dying party, and places himself in front of him, on his tippy toes to reach around Steve's stupid big frame with his arms around his neck and his hands under those ridiculous flowers that they're both still wearing and his fingers in Steve's hair. And now that he's sure he has Steve's attention, Danny's not about to let it go. "That was a pretty shitty time. Maybe I can meet you halfway."

The next look is one of fondness, the one that always makes Danny's day when he couldn't even see why, and he laughs softly now that he does. Steve's arms come up around him and squeeze a little, just enough, and Steve who is _forever ridiculous_ goes for a distant expression that anyone could see through. "Party's winding down," he says. "You still staying at that hotel?"

"No," Danny whispers, and begins to sway into the wind secure in Steve's impossible stance – physical and otherwise. Their foreheads are connected now, and Steve sways with him.

"Oh. You gonna miss the view?"

"No."


End file.
